Just One Kiss: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 1) (12 page)

“You look stunning tonight.”

“Oh really, I’m shocked you noticed what
with all the avoiding you’ve been doing lately.”

Ethan gazes at me from the corner of his eye
before waving at Lucas. “Can I get a Bud and Kelsey will have a…”
His left brow raises waiting for my response.

“Reds, please,” I say because I haven’t lost
all my manners. Although he doesn’t really deserve any right now. I
planned to come here and grab his attention. I never said I was
going to be nice about it.

Lucas chuckles as he hands us our beers.

“Thanks,” I say, quickly stepping away,
fully prepared to leave Ethan wanting more.

“I’m sorry, Kelsey.”

I stop. “You seem to be saying that a lot
these days, Ethan, and you haven’t even been here that long.”

“I know, I just … I have a
lot going on and I’m not sure how I want to deal with it.” He takes
a drink from his beer, pinning his eyes on me. “I know what
I
want
, but wants
and needs are two very different things.”

My heart thumps louder.
He’s never actually done anything to hurt me. But the way he’s
acted isn’t a good sign. It’s not something I want to mess with.
The way he said
wants and needs
makes me think he’s hiding something. And although
I know I should stay away from him, a huge part of me wants to know
what it is he won’t tell me, and deep down, I know that’s the part
of me that’s going to win. It’s the part of me that’s willing to
chance getting hurt again for Ethan.

Ethan

From the moment she steps through the door,
Kelsey has my full attention. Her black dress is tight on her body,
showing off every last curve and I love every moment of it. She
looks beautiful and hot as hell, and there is no way I’m going to
let any other guy in the place get near her.

I’ve been back and forth for what feels like
a zillion times. Screw it all to hell and be with Kelsey, or stay
away convincing myself it’s for the best? Right now, Kelsey is
definitely weighing my decision toward option one. I can’t even
look her in the eyes without my mind screaming, “Fuck it, just be
with her.” Then I think about how far into helping my father I am
and I freeze up. I have no idea what I should do.

“Dude, Sara looks smoking hot tonight, don’t
you think?” Logan asks me. We’re leaning against the bar, resting
back on our elbows as we watch the crowd. More specifically, the
girls as they dance together on the dance floor, capturing
everyone’s attention. My face wrinkles up and I feel like I’m going
to be sick.

“Yeah, no…that’s my cousin. Nothing hot
going on there, my friend.” I push myself off the bar, set my beer
down, and then head for the dance floor. I watch Kelsey as she
moves her hips to the song and laughs with my cousin.

I pause, debating my actions one more time,
but one glance in my direction and everything that isn’t Kelsey
disappears. She jumps when I come up behind her. My hands shake as
they rest on her hips and she turns around slowly, wrapping her
arms around my neck. She continues to move her hips from side to
side until we have a rhythm together. I can’t imagine a moment when
I’ve ever been happier than I am when I’m around her.

“It’s hard to do the right thing when what I
want most is what I need most,” I say into her ear.

Her body stiffens. “It’s hot in here,
right?” She fans herself with her hand, pulling away but leaving
her hand in mine.

“Let’s go cool off,” I suggest, lacing our
fingers and tugging her toward the bar where the crowd is thin. I
lift my hand in the air to get Lucas’s attention and ask for two
waters. He sets them in front of us and Kelsey immediately starts
to chug hers. There’s a glow off her skin from hours of dancing,
and her hair is now pulled up. She turns, leaning her left arm
against the bar, and smiles up at me. I reach up to place a stray
hair behind her ear.

“I have two things to say to you, Ethan
Connelly,” She is slurring her words only slightly. I chuckle.

“And those are?”

“I just want you to kiss me already.”

I grin and lean closer. “The other?”

“I’m really glad Sara chose you to run her
bar while she’s gone.”

And just like that, reality returns. When
Kelsey finds out the real reason I’m here, she’ll hate me.

“Oh, you two are sooo cute.” Sara comes up
quickly on Kelsey’s other side, almost running into the counter,
then leans away from the bar, holding on with one hand to look
around Kelsey to me. Logan comes up behind her to steady her. “It’s
such a good thing your dad picked you to come help me and not one
of your brothers,” Sara says, winking at Kelsey and looking back to
me. “Before you know it, you’re going to be marking the schedule so
all your shifts can be together. You better be a good boss to her,
or Logan will beat you up.” She slurs a few of her words worse than
Kelsey did, but I heard them.

Like clockwork, my phone buzzes in my
pocket. Pulling it from my pocket, I glance down to see my father’s
name. I excuse myself to use the restroom, but I don’t go there.
Instead I leave. Until I figure out what I’m going to do and can
stick with it, the farther away I am from Kelsey, the better. For
both of us.

Kelsey

Sara’s been gone for a couple weeks and I’ve
hated not having someone to talk to. Especially with the whole
Ethan fiasco. I pretended like things were fine when she left
because I don’t want her to worry.

The first part of her trip
she said would still be in the United States so she promised to
make at least one visit back home before she flies to Paris.
Lucky.
Here I am, lying
on my parents’ couch with a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies,
watching reruns of
Friends
, avoiding the homework I have
for class, and dreading the shift I have to work
tonight.

After Ethan’s disappearance at Sara’s
going-away party, I’ve officially decided to cut him off of any
chance he may have with me. Who cares if he’s too good looking for
his own good and has a great smile? I don’t play games and Ethan
has shown pretty damn well that he is great at them.

For the most part, we have
kept our distance at work. I’m pretty sure he scheduled it that
way, which has resulted in fewer shifts for me. He irritates me to
no end these days. Some days he is nice to me and other days he is
a complete jerk. I thought he liked me, but I was extremely
mistaken. He made that clear when he stopped showing up for
breakfast and when he left me at Sara’s party. Not that I was
thinking clearly that night anyway.
Come
on, Kelsey
.
He
isn’t a trustworthy person.
Once a
cheater, always a cheater, right?
That’s
probably why he disappeared.
Damn
it.
Why am I still thinking about
him?

At least at work, it’s not just me. Things
are off to a rocky start with everyone else at the bar too, and
have only grown worse. Ethan is taking this temporary takeover way
out of control. He told Beth to save her personal problems for off
the clock when she was explaining to me why she needed to trade a
shift. Logan showed up two minutes late one day and Ethan was ready
to fire him on the spot. Logan, his one and only friend. The guy
who, after everything, still invites Ethan to shoot hoops twice a
week.

His behavior isn’t the only crap thing we’ve
got going on—it’s his rules on our dress code, too. We’re no longer
allowed to wear jeans or casual clothing to work—black dress pants
and black shoes only and girls must wear their hair pulled back. I
accepted that last one, but the rest is just crazy and the list
just keeps growing. I understand looking professional, but this is
a bar. It’s supposed to have a laidback feel to it.

His rules and attitude have
been so bad, the others have been coming to me, asking me to do
something about it. What can I do? Sara didn’t leave me in charge.
She picked Ethan and now we’re all suffering. I kind of miss the
nerdy boy who was sweet to me. He was kind, funny, and cared for
others way more than he should have. Now, I can sum him up in one
word.
Jackass.

The sound of my phone vibrating on the glass
coffee table startles me. I point the remote to the TV to put it on
mute and grab my phone with the other hand. Logan’s name flashes
across the screen.

“Hey, Logan, what’s up?”

“Okay, so I had this idea,” he says.

“Why are you whispering?” I ask. He ignores
me and goes on.

“Tonight when it gets dark out, like dark
enough you can’t see anyone, you sneak out of your parents’ house
and slash his tires then hammer a note to his front door that tells
him to ‘get out of town or else.’”

Oh geez.

I can’t help but laugh. We would never be
that fortunate.

“Even if I thought this idea was a good
one—which I don’t, by the way, but I have to say you’re ideas are
getting more creative—what happens when he wakes up to my hammering
on his door?”

“You run, Kelsey. Duh.”

“Right. You do remember what happened the
last time he caught me sneaking around someone’s house? It didn’t
end well for him,” I point out.

“Exactly!” Logan shouts into the phone.

“He isn’t that bad. We don’t need to
threaten his life. Besides, aren’t you still friends with him.” I
say.

“Outside work, yeah. But at
work … come on, you’ve seen him at work. It’s like working for that
Bain guy in
Batman
, Kelsey. We’re all scared to screw up. I know you are
too.”

“Stop acting like such a
girl, Logan.” I push myself off the couch and catch the sight of
myself in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs.
Whoa hair, calm down.
“So, what is the real reason you called?” I ask as I try to
fix my fuzzy hair while holding the phone with my
shoulder.

“Oh. Uh…that was my real reason for
calling.”

“Yeah, ok.” I catch myself rolling my eyes
in my refection. “You call me every day that you don’t see me in
class. Sara told you to check up on me, didn’t she? Typical.”

Logan’s laughter only confirms it.

“Good-bye, Logan.”

“Bye, Kelsey, see you at work tonight.”

Poor
Logan
. He has it bad for Sara and is so
worked up over her absence. I turn for the stairs and pause
mid-step when I hear a loud banging noise from outside. I open the
front door and poke my head out. Ethan is inside his garage,
standing over a motorcycle, shaking his head. His hands are on his
hips and he spins to kick the tire and then yells at the bike. He
must sense someone is watching him because he snaps his head right
in my direction. I close the door quickly, but there’s no doubt he
saw me.

As much as I don’t want to do anything nice
for him, an idea comes to mind. Maybe if I can find someone to fix
his bike, he’ll be in a good mood for my shift tonight. I send a
quick text to Logan, telling him what I saw, and then run up the
stairs to work on my paper for that column contest before I have to
get ready for work.

Someone’s going to knock some sense into
Ethan. If it’s not Logan, it’s going to be me. And there is no time
like tonight to start.

Ethan

This stupid piece of shit
bike still won’t start. I’ve been working on it for hours, trying
to let off some steam. My dad is being a dick.
You’re not trying hard enough, Ethan. Do better, Ethan. Don’t
make me replace you with your brother, Ethan.
Just hearing my father
say my name
makes me want to hit someone or something. I am so sick and tired
of not being good enough in his eyes.

Sara hasn’t been gone that long. What does
he expect me to find? It’s not like I could be snooping around
while Sara was still in town. It was bad enough when Kelsey opened
her mouth about my living arrangements. I know Sara thinks I’m
buying the house. My cousin drilled me with questions until I gave
in and told her I am thinking about staying here permanently.

I don’t even care about hurting anyone’s
feelings anymore. I just want Max Connelly to tell me I did
something right or maybe even that he’s proud of me. Or I could
just tell him to fuck off and be done with it. I’m starting to like
that idea more and more.

I was really hoping to get this bike to
start so I can go for a long ride where no one can bother me. Take
some time for myself. But that’s not going to happen. This piece of
junk refuses to start.

A reflection off the front of the bike
catches my eye and I follow it. Kelsey is standing in her doorway,
watching me. She jumps back and closes the door, but my eyes remain
glued to that spot for a while. She doesn’t appear again.

I rub my fingers over my eyes. My neighbor
is another problem for me. Things would be so much easier if I drop
everything my dad wants and do what I want, which is to get to know
her better. But I can’t, not without hurting her. Maybe I don’t
know what I want and that’s why I haven’t done anything. No, that’s
a lie. I know exactly what I want. I just don’t know how to get it
without letting someone down.

I step out of the garage toward Kelsey’s
house, but a black Ford on lifts pulls up in front of my driveway.
Logan waves at me through the window and jumps out.

“Hey, man,” he says, walking over to me with
his hands in front pockets and taking a look around. “I heard you
were having a little bike trouble. Mind if I take a look?”

“Kelsey called you, didn’t she?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

I step back toward my bike. “It won’t start.
I’ve been out here most of the day and I can’t figure out why.” I
tell him.